The All-Star Game

There have been some boring All Star Games in recent years, but this may have been the most boring one of all.  At Shea Stadium -- or whatever the Mets call their home field these days -- the American League beat the National League 3-0.  Remarkably, the Nationals -- playing like their namesakes in D.C. -- got only three hits.  Not exactly Murderer's Row for the old NL.  Bryce Harper, the Nats' lone representative, went 0-2.

Since nobody did much of anything in the game, it was nice that they named Mariano Rivera -- the greatest relief pitcher of all time -- as the game's MVP.  This is Rivera's last season and, since it looks as though the Yankees will miss the playoffs, possibly his last really big night on the national stage.  Everyone wanted to see him -- Mayors Bloomberg and Giuliani were both at the game, as was Joe Torre, Jerry Seinfeld, and other celebrities.  By the time Rivera came out to pitch the 8th inning, the AL was cruising along with a 3-0 lead.  It took Rivera only 16 pitches to get his usual 1-2-3 inning.  And then he left to tumultuous applause.  I have watched baseball my whole life, and I have watched Rivera since 1996, and I have never enjoyed watching anyone pitch more.  All baseball fans -- even Red Sox fans -- will miss him.

Anyway, that was pretty much it for excitement.  The rest of the game looked like a Natstown special, where you felt that whichever team scored first would definitely win.

So the AL will have home-field advantage in the World Series for the first time since 2009.  It is probably not coincidental that 2009 was the last time an American League team won the World Series.  So it was a great day for A's fans, but a disappointment for Cardinals fans.